Software development · QA and test engineers
Hire QA and Test Engineers from Canada, Latin America, and the US
Hire a QA and test engineer who catches defects before your customers do, with testing and automation that keep releases fast. We find the right person, or build your entire development team, in Canada, Latin America, or the US, on a contract, permanent, or fractional basis.
QA and test engineers, screened by QA and test engineers
DevEngine is a Vancouver-based IT recruitment and staffing firm. We recruit QA and test engineers from Canada, Latin America, and the US for contract, permanent, or fractional roles. They plan and run manual and automated testing for web, mobile, and enterprise applications, and build the automation that lets teams release often without lowering quality. A senior QA and test engineer screens every candidate before you see one. You manage the day-to-day work. We handle contracts, HR, and admin.
The role
A QA and test engineer makes sure software works before it ships
A QA and test engineer makes sure software meets quality standards before it reaches users. They create test plans and strategies, write and run test cases, find and report defects, work with developers to resolve them, and build automated tests that run on every change so bugs are caught early.
Typical outputs include test plans and strategies, automated test suites in the CI/CD pipeline, regression, performance, and security tests, defect reports, and quality metrics leadership can use to decide when to release.
The role could be confused with two others, and organizations define all three differently. In general:
QA and test engineer
- What they work on
- Proving the software works as intended before release
- Core question
- Is this release ready, and what could break for users?
- Typical outputs
- Test plans, automated test suites, defect reports, quality metrics
- Works most with
- Developers, product managers, and release teams
- Often brought in when
- Defects reach customers, or testing slows every release
Software developer
- What they work on
- Building the features and fixing the defects
- Core question
- How do we build this feature well?
- Typical outputs
- Features, code, unit tests
- Works most with
- Other developers, QA engineers, and architects
- Often brought in when
- The roadmap needs more features built
Business analyst
- What they work on
- Defining what the system has to do
- Core question
- What does the business need, and how will we know it's met?
- Typical outputs
- Requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria
- Works most with
- Business stakeholders, product managers, and QA
- Often brought in when
- Requirements are unclear or keep changing
If the work is building the features, see Hire Full-Stack Developers. If requirements and acceptance criteria are unclear, see Hire Business Analysts.
When to hire
When you need a QA and test engineer
The need usually shows up as one of these situations:
Production defects are costing customers and revenue.
Defects that reach production turn into support escalations, service-level penalties, and lost renewals, and cost far more to fix than to catch.
Manual regression testing slows every release.
Days of manual regression testing push teams to batch changes into large, risky deployments.
Releases in regulated industries need evidence.
In finance, healthcare, and the public sector, auditors expect proof of how software was tested, and a defect can mean compliance findings or downtime.
No one can say if a release is ready.
Without a test strategy or quality metrics, release decisions rest on individual confidence, and leadership hears about problems from customers.
Need a different role?
If you need someone to build the features and fix the code, hire a front-end, back-end, or full-stack developer. If you need someone to define requirements and acceptance criteria, hire a business analyst. We recruit for all of these roles.
Our screen
What our senior QA and test engineers look for
Good QA shows up in production: fewer defects reaching customers, faster releases, and quality data leadership trusts. A senior QA and test engineer screens every candidate and asks for specifics: what they tested, what they automated, what they caught, and what changed.
Defects caught before release
We ask for a release they tested, the defects they caught, and how production incidents changed after they joined the team.
Automation that pays off
We ask what they automated, how it ran in the CI/CD pipeline, and how much faster releases became as a result.
Risk-based test strategy
We ask how they decided what to test first when time was short, and how they explained release risk to the team.
Fluency with your constraints
A QA and test engineer who has worked with your type of application, your release process, or regulated software reasons differently from one who hasn't. We weight that context, not only certifications.
Candidates who only follow scripts written by others, can't explain what they would automate and why, or measure success by the number of bugs logged are screened out. Your interviews focus on fit, not filtering.
Where we source
Hire from Canada, Latin America, or the US
One search can cover all three talent pools. Brief the role once, and compare candidates from each market side by side before you decide.
Canada
- Where candidates are based
- Across Canada
- Working hours
- Canadian time zones, Pacific to Atlantic
- Cost
- Canadian market rates. See the Canada salary guide below.
- Fits when
- The role needs knowledge of the North American market, regular in-person time in Canada, or a Canadian base
Latin America
- Where candidates are based
- Across Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica
- Working hours
- Within 2 hours of US Eastern time, year-round. Up to 4 hours ahead of Pacific time.
- Cost
- Typically 35–40% below comparable North American cost. See the Latin America salary guide below.
- Fits when
- You want a wider candidate pool or more seniority for the budget, or the QA and test engineer will work with a nearshore team
United States
- Where candidates are based
- Across the United States
- Working hours
- US time zones, Pacific to Eastern
- Cost
- US market rates.
- Fits when
- The role needs knowledge of the US market, regular in-person time at a US site, or a US base
Not sure which market fits? Tell us about the role, and we'll scope it in each market and show you candidates and cost side by side.
Technology salaries in Canada and Latin America
Benchmark salaries by role and seniority before you set a budget.
Engagement models
Contract, permanent, or fractional
Contract
- Who employs the QA and test engineer
- DevEngine
- Time commitment
- Full-time, for a defined period
- Fits when
- A test automation build-out, a major release, or a platform migration with a defined end
- Placement protection
- Two-week guarantee
Permanent
- Who employs the QA and test engineer
- You
- Time commitment
- Full-time, ongoing
- Fits when
- Quality needs a standing owner across every release
- Placement protection
- 180-day prorated guarantee from the start date: full refund in the first 30 days, then partial refunds on a sliding scale
Fractional
- Who employs the QA and test engineer
- DevEngine
- Time commitment
- Part-time, hourly or monthly
- Fits when
- A QA process audit, an automation strategy, or a few hours a week of testing, without a full-time seat
- Placement protection
- Tailored to the scope of work
Each model works a little differently depending on whether you hire in Canada, Latin America, or the US. Compare the options by market to find the engagement that fits your team.
Explore services by marketHow it works
How a QA and test engineer search runs
You brief us on the scope and goals of the project, your current testing process and tools, and how often you release.
We source for your role in Canada, Latin America, or the US, not from a bench.
A senior QA and test engineer screens each candidate. Someone who does the same work, not a recruiter matching keywords.
You choose who to interview and who to hire.
You direct the work. On contract and fractional engagements, DevEngine holds the contract and handles payroll and compliance. On a permanent hire, the QA and test engineer joins your payroll.
If the placement isn't working, we replace the candidate: within two weeks on contract, or under the 180-day prorated guarantee on a permanent hire.
FAQ
QA and test engineer hiring questions
How much does it cost to hire a QA and test engineer?
Cost depends on four things: seniority, specialization (for example, test automation, performance, or security testing), the market you hire from, and the engagement model. Hiring in Latin America typically costs 35–40% less than comparable North American hires. For salary benchmarks across technology roles, download the Canada Salary Guide or the Latin America Salary Guide. DevEngine quotes against your actual brief on the first call.
Which skills and certifications do QA and test engineers bring?
Most cover unit, integration, end-to-end, regression, performance, security, and usability testing. For automation they use tools such as Selenium, Cypress, Jest, JUnit, or TestNG, integrated into CI/CD pipelines. The most widely recognized certification is the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level. Skills and certifications show familiarity, but not whether someone can keep defects away from customers. That's what the senior QA and test engineer screen tests.
Manual or automated testing: which do we need?
Most teams need both. Automated tests catch regressions on every change and speed up releases. Manual and exploratory testing still find usability problems and edge cases that automation misses. We recruit QA and test engineers for either focus, and our screen tests the balance your team needs.
Can I hire a fractional QA and test engineer?
Yes. A fractional QA and test engineer works part-time, on an hourly or monthly cadence, inside your team and tools. Companies often use one for a QA process audit, an automation strategy, or testing support for a major release. DevEngine places fractional QA and test engineers from Canada, Latin America, and the US.
Can our developers test their own code instead of hiring QA?
Developer testing covers part of the job, not all of it. Developers write unit tests for their own code. A QA and test engineer tests how the whole release behaves for users, builds the regression and end-to-end automation developers rarely have time for, and gives leadership data on release risk.
Can a QA and test engineer work with a DevEngine Engineering POD?
Yes. A QA and test engineer can sit inside an Engineering POD or work alongside one. You choose the POD's composition and direct the work. The QA and test engineer owns testing and automation, and the developers in the POD build the features on your sprint cadence, in your tools.
What's your interest?
Choose the path that aligns with how you want to build and scale your team.
Tell us what your next release needs to get right.
We'll tell you which market and model fit, and how long the search should take.
Not ready to talk yet? Compare technology salaries in the Canada Salary Guide or the Latin America Salary Guide.
